Captain Crunch is Missing… Again! For Good?

Remember in 1985 when Quaker Cereal ran their Where’s the Cap’n? Captain Crunch promotion? We all collected clues and tried to find out where the Captain had went to. As it turns out, back then, he was “in the Milky Way”. He quickly returned to our hearts and bowls. Now 26 years later, the Captain is MIA again. This time, it could be for good.

Is Captain Crunch really missing or just retiring? According to a new article in the Daily Finance, Quaker is trying to take the Captain out back and put a bullet into his head like Old Yeller. Here’s the blurb:

Cap’n Horatio Magellan Crunch, who has sailed the Seven Seas for Quaker Oats since 1963, has fallen into the brand equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle.

The cartoon sailor is nowhere to be found on the Quaker website. Quaker’s corporate parent, PepsiCo (PEP), doesn’t go out of its way to trumpet its association with the Good Cap’n, either.

“Our research shows that PepsiCo is no longer marketing Cap’n Crunch cereal directly to children. In a sense, you could say that they have retired Cap’n Crunch, and that’s a good thing,” writes Jennifer Harris, director of Marketing Initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale University, in an email.

But is it really true? Well apparently due to pressure from the government and various parent organizations, many of the sugary cereals we all knew and loved (and have diabetes as a result of) are being put out to pasture. They’re not directly getting rid of them, just phasing them out and cutting down on the advertisements aimed a children. What do you think? Should the Captain be allowed to peddle his unhealthy sugary starch bites to your kids?

And I think we know who’s really responsible for trying to get rid of the Cap’n…

EDIT: Shortly after we posted this story, Quaker came out and made a statement that Captain Crunch isn’t going anywhere… Even if they are downplaying him some.

“Reports of Cap’n Crunch’s demise are greatly exaggerated,” Quaker said in a statement to Ad Age. “In fact, we just launched an official Facebook page for Cap’n Crunch. Now that our Cap’n Crunch brand is in the social-media space, our adult consumers can stay up to date on all things Cap’n Crunch.”

Note that they say, ADULT consumers. Apparently Captain Crunch is now an adult collectible. Just like Mattel’s He-man! I will now take full credit for saving Captain Crunch. You’re welcome!

It's also worth mentioning that back in the '50s, Kellogg's "Smacks" were known as "Sugar Smacks"; they….really didn't care back then. At the same time though, most product wasn't really marketed to kids either; they sorta got "thrown a bone" here and there. In fact, the commercials for Sugar Smacks–at least the one I watched–was a live commercial featuring the cast of Superman. And no…it was Clark Kent eating it, not Superman ':B-)